MILAN (Standard&Poor's) May 31, 2005--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today it has placed its 'AA-' long-term and 'A-1+' short-term counterparty credit ratings on leading Italian bank UniCredito Italiano SpA and subsidiary Unicredit Banca Mobiliare SpA on CreditWatch with negative implications. The 'A+' long-term and 'A-1' short-term counterparty credit ratings on leasing subsidiary Locat SpA were also placed on CreditWatch with negative implications. At the same time, Standard&Poor's has placed its 'A-' long-term and 'A-2' short-term counterparty credit ratings on Germany-based Bayerische Hypo- und Vereinsbank AG (HVB) and subsidiaries Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (BA) and HVB Banque Luxembourg S.A. on CreditWatch with positive implications. The action follows news of UniCredito's possible takeover of HVB, Germany's third-largest
